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CN 7216Covered by CBAMIron & Steel

CN 7216 under CBAM — Angles, Channels & Sections

Angles, shapes and sections of iron or non-alloy steel

Structural angles, channels, beams, tees and other hot-rolled sections — the skeleton of construction and fabrication. Indian section mills, from the integrated producers to the re-rolling clusters, export to EU stockholders and fabricators under this heading. Fabricated structures made from these sections fall separately under CN 7308.

Covered
CBAM status of this heading
1 Jan 2026
Definitive phase — certificates due
€70–80
per tCO₂ — certificate price tracks EU ETS
up to ~40%
typical cost cut with verified actuals
Emission profile

Where the emissions in CN 7216 come from

Sections follow the same route split as bars: BF-BOF at the large mills, DRI + induction furnace and billet re-rolling across the secondary sector. The EU default value for this heading is deliberately conservative — defaults are set high so that not filing actuals always costs more. Indian BF-BOF actuals typically land around 2.1–2.2 tCO₂/t of crude steel, while the defaults applied to Indian BF-route steel sit far higher, in the 3.5–5.0+ tCO₂/t range shown on our steel lander — a gap your buyer pays for until verified actuals close it.

Why we don’t print a default value here

The EU publishes and updates specific default values per goods category separately — quoting a stale number would mislead you. What never changes: defaults are set deliberately high, and the markup escalates from 10% in 2026 to 30% by 2028 for steel and aluminium (free-allowance phase-out runs to 2034). Use the CBAM calculator for a current, product-specific estimate.

What to do

Exporting under CN 7216? Three moves, in order.

  1. 01

    Identify your production route and precursors

    Confirm the route behind your sections — own steelmaking or purchased billets/blooms (precursors) — and whether any product is fabricated further (which may shift it to CN 7308).

  2. 02

    Collect the data you already have

    Furnace and reheating fuel records, electricity bills, billet purchase documentation, section-mill production logs.

  3. 03

    File verified actuals, not defaults

    Have the numbers computed to the EU CBAM methodology and verified, then hand your EU buyer’s Authorised Declarant a filing they can use. Verified actuals typically cut the CBAM cost by up to ~40% versus default values — and the default markup only gets worse, escalating from 10% in 2026 to 30% by 2028 for steel and aluminium.

Free this quarter: We cover your first report (April–June 2026) so an inflated EU default never costs you an order. Continue only if you choose to. Free for the April–June 2026 quarter — start your report by 30 September 2026.

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Frequently asked

CN 7216 and CBAM, in plain English

Is CN 7216 covered by CBAM?

Yes. CN 7216 — angles, shapes and sections of non-alloy steel — is a covered good under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Any consignment under this heading imported into the EU has carried reporting obligations since the transitional phase (1 October 2023 – 31 December 2025), and since the definitive phase began on 1 January 2026 the EU importer must buy CBAM certificates against its embedded emissions. Both hot-rolled and cold-formed sections fall within the heading’s scope.

How much CBAM cost does CN 7216 face in 2026?

CBAM certificates track the EU ETS carbon price — roughly €70–80 per tonne of CO₂ in 2026 — so the bill is your embedded emissions multiplied by that price. For Indian BF-route steel products the difference between bases is dramatic: default-basis costs run roughly €250–270 per tonne of product, versus roughly €65–170 per tonne on verified actuals — about €80,000–€180,000 on a single 1,000-tonne consignment. The exact figure depends on your route and product mix, which is why the first step is a proper calculation, not a guess.

We punch and drill sections before export. Is that still CN 7216?

Light working like cutting to length, drilling or punching generally keeps sections within Chapter 72; once they are assembled or prepared as identifiable structure parts, they move to CN 7308 — which is also CBAM-covered, so the obligation follows the product either way. What changes is the calculation boundary: fabrication adds a processing stage on top of the rolled-section precursor.

Our sections are rolled from ship-breaking or scrap-derived billets. Does that lower our CBAM number?

A genuinely scrap-based electric route typically carries a lower real emission intensity than ore-based production — but the EU only credits what verified actuals prove. On defaults, the conservative assumption applies no matter how clean the route. Documenting the scrap share, furnace energy and billet chain, then filing verified actuals, is how that advantage becomes money.